1947–48 Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey season

The 1947–48 Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey season was the 46th season of play for the program but first under the oversight of the NCAA. The Tigers represented Princeton University and were coached by Richard Vaughan in his 11th season.

1947–48 Princeton Tigers
men's ice hockey season
ConferenceT–4th Pentagonal League
Home iceHobey Baker Memorial Rink
Record
Overall10–11–0
Conference2–5–0
Home8–7–0
Road0–3–0
Neutral2–1–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachRichard Vaughan
Captain(s)Chuck Callanan
Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey seasons
« 1946–47 1948–49 »

Season

edit

After a terrible end to the previous season, the Tigers were looking to get a good jump on the year.[1] The first game against Brown, who were returning to the ice after a 9-year layoff, was a relatively soft landing for the Tigers who won the game as much on their depth as anything else.[2] After inserting Robert O'Conner into the starting role for team captain Charlie Callanan, coach Vaughan got the Tigers to perform much better in their second game.[3]

Over the winter break, Princeton travelled up to Buffalo to participate in a 4-team winter carnival.[4] With Callanan back in goal, the Tigers won the first two games with solid performances on both sides of the puck. This left them with an impeccable 5–0 record as they entered the showdown with the defending eastern champions, Dartmouth. With a potential NCAA tournament berth up for grabs, the Tigers wanted to at least give the Indians a fight, however, the Greens demonstrated why they were one of the best teams in the country by taking complete control of the game. While Princeton didn't look out of place on the same ice as Dartmouth, the Hanoverians were obviously the better of the two.[5]

On their way back to campus, the team made a pitstop in Canton to take on St. Lawrence. Unfortunately, the team got into penalty trouble in the first and surrendered 2 power play goals which the Larries rode to a 3–6 win. The Tigers hoped that they could flip the script a week later when they met Dartmouth for a rematch but the second edition was eerily similar to the first. Despite a strong defensive performance by O'Conner and Schmon, the Indians potted 6 goals in Princeton's first league game since 1942.[6] The team collected itself and ended their losing streak with an overtime win over Clarkson thanks to a goal from Walt Elsaesser.[7]

After righting the ship, Princeton played just one game over the next two and a half weeks. They met the US Olympic Team in that aggregation's first game together. The Tigers took advantage of the lack of familiarity by scoring 5 goals in the first and riding that to an easy 6–2 victory.[8]

Princeton didn't play another game until the end of the month and, when they did, had lost both Bob Schmon and Paul Van Dyke to academic ineligibility. The team looked completely out of sorts in the match against Boston University and produced their worst performance all season, losing 1–8.[9] Without those two lynchpins in the lineup, the Tigers lost the other two games before the start of the Spring semester, dropping their record to 7–6.

Refusing to bow to the difficulties, the Tigers fought back in the next game and upset tournament-hopeful Boston College.[10] Princeton continued its inspired play and won matches against both Harvard and Yale. With Bill Clarkson taking over from Van Dyke as the team's #1 center, both he and Freddie Roberts recorded hat-tricks to give the Tigers a pair of conference wins.[11]

The three wins gave Princeton an outside chance at the NCAA tournament but they would have to continue the strong play over the remaining five game. Unfortunately, the entire offense fell apart down the stretch. In the final 5 contests, Princeton scored just 9 goals and lost every game. The Tigers had been 2nd in the Pentagonal League at the time but ended up tied for last with Yale and had yet another disappointing finish to their season.

Roster

edit
No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team
  John F. Bernard Junior D 1923-09-06 Wellesley, Massachusetts
40   Charles R. Callanan Graduate G 1925-08-31 Albany, New York
  William F. Clarkson Sophomore F Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  Melville P. Dickenson Jr. Junior 1928-03-05 Princeton, New Jersey
  Walter A. Elsaesser Graduate F 1924-02-18 Morristown, New Jersey
Charles R. Erdman III Graduate 1923-09-07 Princeton, New Jersey
  Peter E. B. Erdman Sophomore Princeton, New Jersey
  Dean W. Mathey Sophomore Brooklyn, New York
Anthony M. O'Connor Junior
Robert B. O'Connor Jr. Sophomore G
  John M. Ricker Graduate D Walpole, Massachusetts
Frederick G. Roberts Junior F
  Richard P. Ryerson Junior 1927-06-15 Glen Ridge, New Jersey
Robert E. Ryerson Jr. Graduate
  Henry W. Safarik Sophomore D New York, New York
  Fredric E. Schluter Jr. Sophomore Bronxville, New York
  William E. Schluter Sophomore D 1927-11-05 Bronxville, New York
50   Robert M. Schmon Graduate D Glen Ridge, New Jersey
  O. Jones Toland Jr. 1927-12-30 Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania
11   Paul C. Van Dyke Sophomore F Litchfield, Connecticut
  Robert S. Wicks Graduate Lawrenceville, New Jersey

[12]

Standings

edit
Intercollegiate Overall
GP W L T Pct. GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Army 16 11 4 1 .719 78 39 16 11 4 1 78 39
Bemidji State 5 0 5 0 .000 13 36 10 2 8 0 37 63
Boston College 19 14 5 0 .737 126 60 19 14 5 0 126 60
Boston University 24 20 4 0 .833 179 86 24 20 4 0 179 86
Bowdoin 9 4 5 0 .444 45 68 11 6 5 0 56 73
Brown 14 5 9 0 .357 61 91 14 5 9 0 61 91
California 10 2 8 0 .200 45 62 17 5 12 0 87 89
Clarkson 12 5 6 1 .458 67 39 17 10 6 1 96 54
Colby 8 2 6 0 .250 28 41 8 2 6 0 28 41
Colgate 10 7 3 0 .700 54 34 13 10 3 0 83 45
Colorado College 14 9 5 0 .643 84 73 27 19 8 0 207 120
Cornell 4 0 4 0 .000 3 43 4 0 4 0 3 43
Dartmouth 23 21 2 0 .913 156 76 24 21 3 0 156 81
Fort Devens State 13 3 10 0 .231 33 74
Georgetown 3 2 1 0 .667 12 11 7 5 2 0 37 21
Hamilton 14 7 7 0
Harvard 22 9 13 0 .409 131 131 23 9 14 0 135 140
Lehigh 8 0 8 0 .000 8 95 10 0 10 0 12 108
Massachusetts 2 0 2 0 .000 1 23 3 0 3 0 3 30
Michigan 18 16 2 0 .889 105 53 23 20 2 1 141 63
Michigan Tech 19 7 12 0 .368 87 96 20 8 12 0 91 97
Middlebury 14 8 5 1 .607 111 68 16 10 5 1 127 74
Minnesota 16 9 7 0 .563 78 73 21 9 12 0 100 105
Minnesota–Duluth 6 3 3 0 .500 21 24 9 6 3 0 36 28
MIT 19 8 11 0 .421 93 114 19 8 11 0 93 114
New Hampshire 13 4 9 0 .308 58 67 13 4 9 0 58 67
North Dakota 10 6 4 0 .600 51 46 16 11 5 0 103 68
North Dakota Agricultural 5 3 2 0 .600 27 28 6 4 2 0 37 29
Northeastern 19 10 9 0 .526 135 119 19 10 9 0 135 119
Norwich 9 3 6 0 .333 38 58 13 6 7 0 56 70
Princeton 18 8 10 0 .444 65 72 21 10 11 0 79 79
St. Cloud State 12 10 2 0 .833 55 35 16 12 4 0 73 55
St. Lawrence 9 6 3 0 .667 65 27 13 8 4 1 95 50
Suffolk
Tufts 4 3 1 0 .750 17 15 4 3 1 0 17 15
Union 9 1 8 0 .111 7 86 9 1 8 0 7 86
Williams 11 3 6 2 .364 37 47 13 4 7 2
Yale 16 5 10 1 .344 60 69 20 8 11 1 89 85
Conference Overall
GP W L T PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
Dartmouth 7 7 0 0 1.000 49 20 24 21 3 0 156 81
Army 4 2 2 0 .500 12 17 16 11 4 1 78 39
Harvard 7 3 4 0 .429 31 33 23 9 14 0 135 140
Princeton 7 2 5 0 .286 23 31 21 10 11 0 79 79
Yale 7 2 5 0 .286 20 32 20 8 11 1 89 85
indicates conference champion

Schedule and Results

edit
Date Opponent Site Result Record
Regular Season
December 13 Brown* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey W 7–4  1–0–0
December 15 St. Nicholas H. C.* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey W 6–2  2–0–0
December 19 Colby* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey W 7–0  3–0–0
December 29 vs. Colgate* Buffalo Memorial AuditoriumBuffalo, New York W 3–1  4–0–0
December 30 vs. Williams* Buffalo Memorial AuditoriumBuffalo, New York W 5–2  5–0–0
January 1 vs. Dartmouth* Buffalo Memorial AuditoriumBuffalo, New York L 1–5  5–1–0
January 3 St. Lawrence* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey L 3–6  5–2–0
January 10 at Dartmouth Davis RinkHanover, New Hampshire L 2–6  5–3–0 (0–1–0)
January 13 Clarkson* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey W 4–3 OT 6–3–0
January 17 US Olympic Team* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey W 6–2  7–3–0
January 31 Boston University* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey L 1–8  7–4–0
February 3 St. Nicholas H. C.* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey L 2–3  7–5–0
February 7 Colgate* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey L 4–5  7–6–0
February 10 Boston College* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey W 5–4  8–6–0
February 14 Harvard Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey W 8–4  9–6–0 (1–1–0)
February 21 Yale Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey W 6–3  10–6–0 (2–1–0)
February 27 at Yale New Haven ArenaNew Haven, Connecticut L 1–2 OT 10–7–0 (2–2–0)
March 1 Williams* Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey L 2–3  10–8–0
March 6 Dartmouth Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey L 2–5  10–9–0 (2–3–0)
March 10 at Harvard Boston ArenaBoston, Massachusetts L 2–6  10–10–0 (2–4–0)
March 13 Army Hobey Baker Memorial RinkPrinceton, New Jersey L 2–5  10–11–0 (2–5–0)
*Non-conference game.

[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Men's Hockey All-Time Results". Princeton Tigers. Retrieved January 4, 2020.
  2. ^ "Varsity Pucksters Score Victory, 7-4, Over Brown Sextet". Daily Princetonian. December 15, 1947. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  3. ^ "Stickmen Submerge Scrappy St. Nicks". Daily Princetonian. December 16, 1947. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  4. ^ "Town Revels as Teams Journey Afar During Holidays". December 19, 1947. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  5. ^ "Tiger Teams Rack Up Four Holiday Wins". January 5, 1948. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  6. ^ "Indians Whip Tiger Pucksters In First League Encounter, 6-2". January 12, 1948. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  7. ^ "Tiger Sextet Scores Win By 4-3 in Overtime Tilt with Clarkson". January 14, 1948. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  8. ^ "U.S. Olympic Hockey Team Vanquished In First Game, 2-6, By Tiger Pucksters". January 19, 1948. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  9. ^ "Major Sports Varsities Lose Badly, But Other Teams Win Between Terms". February 9, 1948. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  10. ^ "Boston College Loses to Tiger Pucksters, 5-4, in Heated Tilt". February 11, 1948. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  11. ^ "Skaters Come From Behind to Trip Elis, 6-3, as Roberts Comletes 'Hat Trick'". February 23, 1948. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  12. ^ "1947-1948 Roster". Elite Prospects. Retrieved January 4, 2020.